LA CROSSE, WI – Less than a month after trying to put an end to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, several top Senate Republicans are now eagerly embracing his candidacy and singing his praises. The awkward change of position brought about by Donald Trump’s status as the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee caught many by surprise given the overwhelming opposition to his candidacy.

“Donald Trump’s unexpected rise to GOP front-runner status is almost as alarming as the eagerness of Senate Republicans to endorse his controversial candidacy,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). “I am not only surprised, but disheartened, that so many Republican leaders have embraced Donald Trump’s hateful, racist and anti-women rhetoric.”

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Senate candidate Dan Kapanke were two of the first Republican leaders to rally around the controversial GOP frontrunner. Other top Republican politicians including Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ron Johnson have also committed to supporting Donald Trump as their party’s nominee.

“Our country has always been a melting pot of people, ideas and traditions, yet Republican leaders in Wisconsin continue to believe that we should build walls to keep people out rather than ladders to lift families up,” added Shilling. “The contrast between Donald Trump’s dangerous and divisive rhetoric versus the inclusive, forward-looking solutions championed by Democratic leaders couldn’t be more clear. In November, I am confident that Wisconsin voters will reject Donald Trump and the Republican politicians who have rushed to defend his divisive agenda.”